Home
News
You are here

Apple protests FBI iPhone backdoor order in open letter: government is asking us to 'hack our own users'

99+comments

By Victor Hristov

Updated: Feb 18, 2016, 9:57 AM

Apple iPhone

Apple protests FBI iPhone backdoor order in open letter: government is asking us to 'hack our own users'

An unprecedented order by a federal judge, forcing Apple to decrypt the iPhone 5c of the San Bernadino shooter, will force the company to break its system encryption and compromise the security of millions of users.

Apple has now fired back at the judicial system with a formal open letter, where chief executive Tim Cook explains that with this order Apple will be required to create a backdoor for the built-in encryption in the iPhone.

Cook warns that this order will have far greater implications than just that one case: it will put at risk the security of millions of users. What the government has requested is essentially "the equivalent of a master key, capable of opening hundreds of millions of locks — from restaurants and banks to stores and homes," as Cook explained.

The government is asking Apple to hack our own users and undermine decades of security advancements that protect our customers — including tens of millions of American citizens — from sophisticated hackers and cybercriminals. The same engineers who built strong encryption into the iPhone to protect our users would, ironically, be ordered to weaken those protections and make our users less safe.

We can find no precedent for an American company being forced to expose its customers to a greater risk of attack. For years, cryptologists and national security experts have been warning against weakening encryption. Doing so would hurt only the well-meaning and law-abiding citizens who rely on companies like Apple to protect their data.

source: Apple

$20 /mo

$25

$5 off (20%)

Offer Ends 6.1.2026 at 11.59pm ET. New members get $5/mo off the $25/mg Visible plan, $35/mo Visible+ plan, or $45/mo Visible+ Pro plan for the first 12 months. Promo code FRESHSTART required at checkout.

Buy at Visible

View Full Bio

Victor, a seasoned mobile technology expert, has spent over a decade at PhoneArena, exploring the depths of mobile photography and reviewing hundreds of smartphones across Android and iOS ecosystems. His passion for technology, coupled with his extensive knowledge of smartphone cameras and battery life, has positioned him as a leading voice in the mobile tech industry.

Read the latest from Victor Hristov